


Getting the Fuzzies

by inkfiction



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Archiving previous works, F/M, Gen, I think?, early s2 stuff, this fic is utterly ridiculous
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:20:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26088583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkfiction/pseuds/inkfiction
Summary: Regina is rather attached to — Simba.
Relationships: Evil Queen | Regina Mills & Henry Mills, Evil Queen | Regina Mills & Prince Charming | David Nolan, Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Prince Charming | David Nolan
Kudos: 17





	Getting the Fuzzies

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Oct 10, 2012. Minor edits.

David comes for her early in the morning, so early in fact that she opens the door in her fuzzy Lion King slippers, cup of coffee in hand. He is wearing a very official looking leather jacket and there is a shiny, yellow badge clipped to his belt.

“You need to come with me,” he says, before looking down and quirking an eyebrow at her slippers. The classic Charming smirk makes a brief but clear appearance.

Regina frowns, shuffling back a little so that most of her slippers are hidden behind the door; only the ears and whiskers peek out.

“Why?” she asks.

“There’s something I need to show you.”

“And what is that?”

“I don’t know; that’s why I need to show you.”

Regina gives him a long, dissatisfied look. “Let me—” she begins, but the words die on her lips as she spots Henry jumping down from David’s truck and running up the gravel path.

“I’m really late for school,” he says before he sends a brief smile in her direction and her heart kind of wobbles in her chest, and hurts because his uniform is badly ironed, his tie askew, and his hair is like a bush that hasn’t seen a trimmer in weeks.

Regina sighs and aches a little, hands itching to correct all these things. In the end she compromises by reaching out and straightening his tie.

“Gramps? School!”

“We’re coming!”

And that is how Regina finds herself wedged between her son and his grandfather in the front seat of an old Ford truck, holding an almost empty cup of coffee and wearing her fuzzy slippers.

The only bright spot in this situation is the ball of warmth that is her son, pressed into her right flank, and even though his elbow is dangerously near her kidney, she doesn’t mind. 

And then there is the tiny comb she finds on the dashboard, and which she promptly uses to turn her son’s overgrown hair into some semblance of neatness (really, there is only so far you can take ‘bright eyed and  _ bushy _ tailed’).

He chatters non-stop about his Bug Republic science project and allows her a kiss on top of his head before hopping down and rushing up the school steps. They watch him go, and only when he disappears inside the doors does David start the truck again.

Regina scoots away; the cabin suddenly feels so much emptier, and quiet.

“He needs a haircut,” she finally breaks the silence. David hmms. “And a properly pressed uniform. And how do you not know how to wear a tie?”

He shrugs. “Kathryn used to do it for me. I never really could.”

“If you can’t manage—”

“I’m trying! I can!”

She disregards his interruption. “If you can’t manage it, please bring me his clothes every week and I can do the laundry and iron them, get them ready to wear.”

“We shall see.”

They are quiet some more and then he points at her slippers.

“Those aren’t actually Simba, are they?”

Regina looks at him, not amused. There’s the Charming smirk/half-smile again.

“I would hardly curse Simba to be my  _ slippers, _ Charming.”

David shrugs as if he doubts it and Regina rolls her eyes.

“It’d be better if you forgot about my slippers and paid more attention to the road.”

“They’re just …  _ interesting, _ is all it is.”

“Of course. Where are we going?”

“Out,” he says as he makes the final turn that puts his car on the road that leads out of Storybrooke.

Regina’s heart suddenly clenches in fear.

“Are you planning on pushing me out of the boundary?” she says, purple lightning already crackling in her palms.

“No,” he says. “Look.”

Regina looks, and finds a large, sky high wall of sizzling red energy a little ahead of them.

“What is  _ that? _ ”

“No idea, but I’m presuming Gold is behind it.”

“Why would he do this?” Regina gets out of the truck, walking forward to take a closer look.

“Why does he do anything?” David says, getting out as well. “He must have an agenda, and —  _ hey! _ Don’t touch it!”

Regina pauses, hand outstretched, and gives him a withering look.

“I  _ know. _ I am a witch.”

She looks back, yelps, and withdraws her hand hurriedly, taking several steps back.

“It’s moving! Towards us!”

“I don’t suppose that’s a good sign?”

“What do you think?” she glares at him. “Of course it is not a good sign! Not remotely. I think the barrier spell is, well … imploding slowly.”

“Definitely not a good sign. Can you do something about it?”

“I can try. I might be able to stall it, at the very least. I’m still not at my full power yet, or I would take it down.”

“I’ll take the stalling, meanwhile. Quickly, if you please?”

Regina nods, turning to face the red wall of energy, planting her slippered feet squarely on the ground, purple smoke billowing out of her hands and swirling around her, and it is a sight to behold, David thinks. Regina Mills, Evil Queen incarnate, performing magic in her fuzzy, Simba slippers.

The smoke halts the barrier’s progress, solidifying over its surface in large, mottled, purple veins, holding it in place, and then beginning to corrode through; it takes some time but eventually the red energy dissipates in a shower of sparks and smoke.

David is so engrossed in watching the display that at first he hardly even notices that Regina has collapsed to the ground. He rushes forward with a shout of “Regina!” when he realizes she is down.

“Regina, what’s wrong?” He shakes her lightly. When she doesn’t respond, he shakes harder.

“Ow. Stop it, you oaf!” comes the sluggish response, and David sighs in relief.

“What happened?”

“Too fast,” Regina mumbles. “Shouldn’t have taken it down.”

“Is it gone? The barrier?”

“No. The wall.”

“Good. That’s good. C’mon, let’s take you home. Can you get up?”

“Home,” she murmurs and curls up in a ball, muttering something about wisps in the willows and flutterby bushes.

“I’m guessing not,” David says, frowning and feeling her forehead; it’s damp. He sighs.

Five more minutes of cajoling, encouraging, and even mildly threatening are to no avail. Delirious from exhaustion, she mutters more random and ridiculous stuff, and even snores lightly for half a minute before waking up and telling ‘Carfier to stop tickling her pinky toes’. David’s frown deepens, as does the understanding that she is not going to move from here on her own, at least not yet.

So he bends down, carefully sliding hands underneath her knees and shoulders and picks her up. She feels lighter than he had imagined, he thinks as he makes his way to his truck. He settles her down on the passenger seat, cinching her seat belt. He gets in and begins the drive back to Mifflin Street.

She wakes up a couple of minutes later, wiggles her legs and toes, and lets out an anguished cry, making him jerk to a stop.

“What is it? Are you okay?”

“Lulu! You dropped Lulu!”

Faced with wide, accusing brown eyes, he feels like a deer caught in the headlights. “Lulu?”

“My slipper!” She waves a bare left foot almost in his face (which is some feat to accomplish in that car!).

He sighs with relief and then frowns at her distressed expression. “I’m sure you can buy new slippers, Regina. Let me take you home.”

“No!”

“It’s just a slipper.”

“It’s  _ my _ slipper!”

“But—”

“I’m tired!” she whines. “And I want Lulu back!”

He looks at her, exasperated, choosing not to comment on the fact that she has named her left fuzzy slipper ‘Lulu’. Who’d have thought a day would come when he would see Regina Mills, Evil Queen and Mayor of Storybrooke pouting and upset enough to almost cry over a fuzzy Simba slipper called Lulu. She must really have conked her head after using so much magic. It is ridiculous but he wonders what the other one is called.

“Regina,” he begins soothingly, but then there are big, liquid brown eyes staring at him beseechingly and he gives up. “Fine. I’m turning back.”

He finally asks as he makes the about turn. “Lulu, huh? What’s the other one called?”

There is sullen silence and then: “Mitzi,” comes the tiny voiced reply.

He is careful not to laugh and puts his serious face on as they reach the barrier.

You would think that a fuzzy, Lion King slipper would be easy to locate but apparently that is not the case. He has to comb the road and the side bush for fifteen minutes while Regina sits in the truck, lower lip thrust out and wobbly, before he finds it and hands it to her. Something about the smile she gives him is so childish and ridiculous that he can’t help but smile back.

She drifts off into a sound sleep, snoring lightly (a mark of how tired she was), and he has to carry her inside and all the way up to put her to bed. He covers her in blankets, props a thank you note on her dresser, and carefully and neatly arranges Lulu and Mitzi beside each other by the bed before leaving.

**Author's Note:**

> a) Mitzi from **Shall We Dance**  
>  b) Headcanon: When Regina was a little girl, she had a pet kitten called Carfier.


End file.
